


Sweet Silver Bells

by OtherCat



Series: OtherCat's Snippets and Incomplete Fic [3]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Christmas, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2002-12-29
Updated: 2002-12-29
Packaged: 2018-10-03 08:21:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10240151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OtherCat/pseuds/OtherCat
Summary: In which Spike and Xander find themselves chained together and sharing in the holiday spirit for mysterious reasons.





	

_Ah, Christmas on the Hellmouth,_ Xander thought as he painted the sugar cookie hats with a  red glaze made from a mixture of egg and food coloring. Buffy's kitchen was warm, and full of the smell of Christmassy goodness. Two deep-dutch apple pies were cooling on the rack, along with ginger bread men, previous batches of sugar cookies, and Xander's infamous Great Big Peanut Butter and Jelly Roll. Most of the decorations were up, including the tree, and Buffy was humming along with an oddly familiar, baritone singing "The Carol of the Bells," as she painted tree-shaped sugar cookies green with red splotches.

The season had not gotten off with a good start, Anya had decided to break off their engagement after an ill-fated discussion with his mother. _Note to self:Never leave a former Monophysite agnostic and a Southern Baptist creationist alone in the same room for more than five minutes, make it one minute if the Monophysite is also a former demon!_ * The fallout of the "discussion" and the resulting argument between his parents and Anya had left his parents not speaking to him(some punishment)since he had sided with _her_ , and being "just friends" with the ex-demon. _Though not, apparently, friends enough to want to spend Christmas with me._ So he was sharing Scoobie togethernesswith Buffy, Dawn, and weirdly enough, Spike...Spike, it was _Spike_ ho was singing!

"...Christmas is here, bringing good cheer, to young and old, meek andthe bold," Spike sang as he helped Dawn wrap the bannister in tinsel."Now, that's just disturbing," Xander said, poking his head out of thekitchen. "Quit singing carols, evil dead."

"What, I can't get into the Christmas spirit too?" Spike said with anoffended air that went poorly with the amused smirk. "Fa lalala, I saw mummy snogging Santa Claus, and all that?"

"Sorry Spike, in Xanderworld, vamps and Christmas do _no_ t go together,"Xander said without much in the way of sympathy.

"If you think _that's_ disturbing, you should hear his version of 'The Twelve Days of Christmas,'" Buffy muttered, scratching absently at the cast on her arm. *How* she'd gotten her arm broken, neither she, Dawn,nor Spike were telling...but whatever had happened, had resulted in this weird, Christmassy detente--and hey, remembering a vocabulary word, way to go, Xand-man--and _also_ why the vampire was currently residing in Buffy's basement, instead of his crypt. "On the first day of Christmas Angelus--" Spike sang.

"Don't you _dare_ sing that!" Buffy interrupted, shaking the basting brush she'd been using to paint the cookies. 

"Or what pet, you'll paint me green and put sprinkles on me?"

Buffy growled, and awkwardly started to rise from her chair. "Guys," Dawn interrupted in a surprisingly firm voice, frowning at both vampire and Slayer. Even more surprising were the instant, guilty looks Buffy and Spike exchanged--and the muttered apologies. All of which screamed _Story! Subtext! Must find out what's up!_ To Xander, but he didn't get much of a chance to pry, because Dawn said, very casually, "Hey Spike, what was Christmas like when you were a kid?"

"Would that be before, or after I went on the parish after my father and mother died tragically in debtor's prison, luv?" Spike asked innocently. 

Dawn punched his arm. "Jerk. You didn't live in a work house."

"Couldn't call it living, luv. And how do you know?" Spike said in a tone of hurt surprise.

"I asked Angel," Dawn said, making a face at the now grinning vampire.

"He also said you were never prenticed to a chimney sweep, so _there_."

The phone rang, and Buffy got to the phone first. "Hello? Cordelia, hi! I was just goind to call, how--" Buffy's expression went from cheerful to worried-Slayer in less than a second. "You had a vision? No wait,let me get a pen and paper--" Buffy gave Xander a _look_.

Xander scanned the room briefly, then grabbed some paper out of Dawn's school binder, to the tune of a "Hey!" from the stairwell as he handed it, and a Garfield pencil over to Buffy. "Okay got it," Buffy said,mouthing the words "thankyou," as she began scribbling awkardly, with her in-a-cast-arm holding the papers down. "Are you _sure_? Yeah sorry Cordy--I said I'm _sorry_!" Buffy said over the phone, then nodded. "Yeah, back up would be nice--I broke my arm--no, I'm not telling you how--no! Don't put Angel on! Aaaaaa! Angel, I'm _fine_...really--" and so on, and so forth until goodbyes were said, and Buffy finally hung up."Ummm, guys, we have a problem," she said, looking worried. Cordy had a vision that a nest of vampires were trying to open the Hellmouth--" 

"Hey, it hasn't been _that_ cold." Xander's comment was greeted with an eye roll from Buffy, and a snort from Spike.

"I need you guys to patrol by the old school," Buffy continued, and stood, clutching the papers as she rose. "I have to go get ingredients for the counterspell."

"What am I going to do?" Dawn asked.

Buffy blinked. "Stay here and bake the cookies."

 

* * *

 

Warm. It was warm, and the bed was soft. Christmas music was softly laying in the background, along with the crackle of a fire. _Yule log video?_ Warm apple cinnamon smells in the air, with an undernote of Christmas dinner. Xander drifted slowly up from a dream featuring Buffy arguing with Angel over the five calico kittens he owed her. _Weirdness, but, once again, nice to be alive to dream it._ The details of the previous night were hazy, more hazy than the usual "it's quiet,too qui--AAARGH!" that typified the usual Scooby Gang Averts the Apocalypse AGAIN--adventures.

It was pitch dark in the bedroom, and the bed didn't seem quite right, but it wasn't a _threatening_ not-right, so Xander yawned, and stretched, pressing his back against the cool, smooth...skin covered wall. A very happy _male_ wall. "Gah!" Xander shouted in suprise and dove out of the bed, and through the velvety drapes that hung from the canopy. He landed on the floor, and yelped when his arm was yanked back.

Yanked back due to a manacle and chain locked around his wrist. A manacle and chain that, it turned out, was attached to...

"Bloody _hell_!" Said the wall. Who wasn't a wall after all but Spike."What's going on, here?" The vampire said, peering blearily down at Xander. "And why'm I chained to you?" 

"How would I know, Fangless?" Xander asked edgily, and looked about

the dim, fire lit room. "Wow."

They were in a cabin. The bed was up in a loft, looking over the dining/living room area. Across from the bed was a dresser. There was a spiral staircase off to the right. The gaurd rail and the bannister had been looped with red and silver garlands, and little icicle lights. On the dresser were a pair of envelopes, decorated with green and silver glitter one was addressed to Spike, and the other to Xander.

Xander stepped over to the dresser, momentarily forgetting that he was chained to Spike, and yanking him off balance for a second. Spike yanked back with a growl, then winced as the chip kicked in. "Watch it, Harris," the vampire growled, stepping closer to the dresser, and snagging the envelope labelled "Spike".

"Um. Sorry?"

Inside the envelope was the standard Christmas card, horse drawn sleigh, Victorian style houses, lots of snow. Spike's envelope had a similar card, with a similar picture.

_Happy Holidays, Xander, Enjoy your presents!_

_P.S. In case you don't find the keys, I've also hidden a hacksaw in a place that's slightly harder to find!_

The signature was illegible. Or runic, Xander couldn't decide, after turning the card to look at it from various angles. Spike meanwhile was sniffing his card, then tossed it onto the dresser with a growl. "There's no scent! When I find out who the wanker is who did this..." Spike muttered a few more words under his breath then took a deep breath. "Well, Harris, we've got keys to find." Spike turned toward the stairs.

"What about clothes?" Xander asked, a little nervously.

Spike sighed and rolled his eyes. "Check the dresser, then."

In the dresser were two pairs of pajama bottoms. Teddybears. Wearing santa caps. Giving Spike a look he grabbed a pair of the pajama pants, and put them on. Muttering under his breath, Spike did likewise.

They made their way down stairs, and took a look around. There a was kitchenette to the left of where Xander was standing, from where the smells of turkey were coming.

Directly under the loft was a couple of couches, and an entertainment center. On the coffee table in front of the couch that seperated the living area from the dining area was a stack of tapes, the top one being The Santa Clause. The windows to the right had heavy red velvet curtains covering them, as well as a set of green vertical blinds. Multicolored lights and tinsel streamers garlanded the walls, and a wreath hung on the door.

On the fireplace's mantelpiece was an entire little village of ceramic houses, reindeer and sleigh, with a pair of candles shaped like Santa, and Mrs. Claus.

In the corner opposite the fire place was a huge christmas tree, which hadn't been decorated yet. The decorations were stacked next to the tree, along with a stack of presents. Directly before the fire place, was a table loaded with Christmas goodies. Plates of cookies, and pies...and a big dark round lump on a platter.

"It's a pudding Harris," Spike said, in seeming non-sequitur. 

"Hey, I've seen the Christmas Carol, I knew what it was." 

Spike rolled his eyes. "Let's just find this key, I don't fancy spending Christmas chained to you."

"Not exactly my idea of fun either, Spike," Xander muttered, looking around for likely key-hiding places. None presented themselves, but the cookies were looking pretty irresistible at the moment. He headed toward the nearest plate, but was brought up short by the chain. He glared back at Spike. "Hello?"

Spike was looking toward the Christmas tree. If Xander didn't know better, he would have said Spike looked...distracted. Not, of course, wistful or nostalgic. And if he were wistful and nostalgic, it would probably be about Christmas trees decorated with human hearts on a string or something. "Spike?"

The vampire jumped a little, like he was startled. "What?" He asked irritably.

"Cookies, Spike, I need my minimum daily requirement of sugar," Xander said patiently.

Spike blinked, still looking distracted. "You'll spoil your dinner," he said absently.

Xander stared at Spike like he was crazy. Which wasn't hard to do, because Spike was crazy. "We're staying for dinner? I thought we were looking for the keys?"

"The keys will still be where ever they were hid," Spike said reasonably. "But since someone's gone to all the trouble of setting this up, we might as well enjoy it." Once again, the vampire's gaze drifted over to the tree, the boxes of decorations, and the wrapped presents. "We should probably check the turkey though, first." With that, Spike headed off toward the kitchen, pulling Xander along a for few steps before he dug his heels in.

"Spike, have you been possessed by the Christmas Spirit?" Xander asked.

The vampire stopped in his tracks, giving Xander a look like he thought Xander was the crazy one. He blinked. "Maybe I have, haven't you ever wanted to do something that didn't make much sense at the time?"

Xander actually thought about that for a moment. "Um. Maybe?"

Spike tilted his head, and looked amused. "Well, I want to decorate that tree, and see what's in those presents."

"Why not just open the presents?"

Spike looked at him as if he were hopelessly dense. "Because it isn't time to open them yet," he said patiently. "That's the rules."

"Spike? When have you ever followed rules?"

Spike looked offended. "I follow rules! When it suits me too."

They went into the kitchen, and checked on the turkey. There was a note on the refrigerator held in place by a reindeer magnet telling them when to baste the turkey, when the turkey would be done, and the times to start heating up the rest of the dinner in the microwave.

The mashed potatoes, gravy, yams, dressing, corn on the cob and cranberry sauce were all in the refrigerator, along with several pies. Deep dish dutch apple pie and pumpkin pie. There were raisins in the dressing, and chopped apples. There was also a stack blood bags, in the back of the fridge

"Stop drooling Xander," Spike said, and pulled Xander away from the fridge. 

"I'm not!" Xander said, and shut the fridge door. 

Bemused, Xander allowed Spike to pull him over to the decorations, and sat down next to a cardboard box marked LIGHTS. "Oh hey, bubble lights!" There was also a string of icicle lights, and two strings of pointed bulb lights. He started to carefully unroll the cords, checking for any that might be damaged.

Spike meanwhile, had several flat rectangular boxes of assorted Christmas ornaments. Glass bells and balls, tiny aluminum lanterns and filigree balls, little silver birds. Xander looked around, and found the outlet, which had a powerstrip already plugged in. "Hey Spike, I'm gonna test these lights." Xander tugged on the chain and Spike looked up, then set the ornaments down, scooting closer to Xander, so that Xander could reach the outlet. 

Spike's bare shoulder brushed agains Xander's as he sat back down, making Xander shiver a little at the brief touch. Spike looked at him curiously. "You cold, Harris?"

"Um, no," Xander said quickly, and plugged in the icicle string. Six of the lights didn't light up at all, and three popped, one after the other. Without being asked, Spike snagged the box that the lights had come from, and started looking for replacement bulbs

They worked on replacing the lights on each of the strings, pretty much in silence. It was kind of wiggy, how comfortable it seemed, him and Spike, getting ready to set up the lights, with a turkey roasting in the oven. Whoever set this up in the first place sort of fell by the way side as they finished fixing the lights together. "Think we should check the the turkey now," Xander said. Spike nodded, and they both got up.

After basting the turkey, and putting the pans of dressing in the oven to heat up, Xander and Spike returned to the tree, and started putting the lights on the tree. Which wasn't all that easy to do, since they were chained together. The cords tended to tangle up in the chain, and Spike or Xander would sometimes yank the other off balance. Spike would growl, and Xander would glare, but for some reason, it never got the the argument stage.

Once the the lights were up, they started on the decorations. Spike decided to give him a little history lesson, and talked about how the Christmas tree became popular during the reign of Queen Victoria, and how they had been decorated.

Since Spike was talking about Christmas trees, Xander decided to share the one or two Christmas memories he had that didn't suck beyond the telling of them

Going sledding with Willow, his first bike, the train set he'd gotten when he was five. The year his Mom had decided to make garlands out of popcorn.

It had been fun listening to Mom tell silly stories while stringing the popcorn pieces on a thread. After Christmas, they'd left the garlands out for the birds. Spike listened with what was probably polite interest, nodding occasionally. When they finally had the tree decorated, and the presents carefully arranged around the tree, Xander turned on the lights, and they both stood back. It looked wonderful. light sparkled off of the decorations and the tinsel, the bubble lights bubbled. "Makes a pretty picture, don't it?" Spike said softly.

"Yeah," Xander sighed. "Except for the naked bondage thing," Xander said.

Spike smirked. "Might not put you in mind of Christmas, but this brings back memories." 

"TMI, so not wanting to hear about you, Drusilla, and kinky vampire sex," Xander said, then hastily "Or about you, Angelus, or any other vampire or demon, or human or," he babbled when the smirk got just the least bit broader.

"Now, Harris, would I do that?" Spike purred.

"Yes, I think you would, which is why I was asking you to not tell me."

Xander didn't need to be told. The Dolby Digital surround sound version was playing in the back of his head. Naked Spike tied up underneath the Christmas tree with bright red ribbons. Angelus in tight leather pants, sans shirt, wearing a Santa hat, and tapping a riding crop against his thigh, which was just plain wrong.

Then there was Drusilla dressed up like she'd just stepped out of a Victorian Christmas card, on the the arm of a dark blond Victorian Spike wearing a waistcoat and a tall hat. Xander felt his face heat up as he blushed.

Spike tilted his head, looking even more amused, if that was possible. Then he looked toward the kitchen. "We should probably start heating up the rest of the food."

"Yeah, sure," Xander said, feeling a little dazed. In the movie theater in the back of his head, interesting things were happening to the Spike under the Christmas tree. Victorian Spike meanwhile was dancing--a waltz maybe? Only, not with Drusilla. It was Spike and him, which was even more disturbing than Angelus wearing a Santa cap.

Xander hurriedly pulled away from the scene, and blinked at Spike, who was now looking at him with an odd expression on his face. Almost concerned.

"You all right there, Harris?" Spike asked.

Xander blinked. "Sure. Was in a weird mental space for a minute."

"Three minutes," Spike said, still looking a little worried.

"I'm fine," Xander said, a little edgily. He turned and went into the kitchen, Spike following behind.

The yams went into the oven, and the mashed potatoes into the microwave. Xander was trying very hard not to think about the Dolby Digital Moment, which wasn't easy, with Spike giving him odd little sidelong glances, like he thought Xander was about to space out again. After a while, Spike seemed to snap out of it and went back to normal. Spike made comments about the (mostly U.S.)menu, and talked about traditional English Christmas dinners.

Xander was in the middle of stirring the mashed potatoes, when it was apparently Spike's turn to space out. "Spike?" No answer. Xander tugged on the chain. "Spike?" Spike turned his face to look at him. Or look through him--Spike's eyes were unfocussed, like he was sleeping with his eyes open.

"For me? You shouldn't have--" Spike murmured dreamily, and leaned forward drunkenly, eyes half shut, as if he were about to--Xander back pedalled, but there was nowhere to go except against the counter

"Spi--mph!" Xander said, as Spike kissed him on the mouth. Lips. Soft. Spike lips. Spike is kissing me! Xander tried to pull away, but Spike growled and wrapped an arm around his waist. Then Xander bit Spike's lip.

"Gah!" Spike said, and bounced back, covering his bitten mouth with his free hand. "What the hell?!" Spike shouted, looking more confused than angry. "Did I just kiss you, Harris?" He asked in a tone of disbelief. 

For some reason, the implied rejection stung. "Yeah, what the hell was that all about?" Xander said gruffly, trying to cover for the brief moment of hurt.

Spike blinked. "Hell if I know." Spike shook his head as if to clear it. "He gave me a pressie," Spike muttered, still looking confused and dazed.

"He?" Xander asked, and put the mashed potatoes into the microwave for another ten minutes. "Or, do I want to know?" Since it apparently made you happy enough to kiss who ever it was...?

Spike gave him a sidelong look, amused again. "You probably don't want to know. What else is it that we're heating up?"

Xander blinked. "The gravy, next is the gravy, and the corn."

Spike nodded. "After that, we can clear off some the table, and set up for dinner," he said, like nothing had just happened. Or, if something had happened, and he was embarrassed about it.

They finished heating up the dinner, and moved the plates of cookies and the pudding to the kitchen counter. Then they set the table, and (at Spike's insistance) brought out all the food and carefull arranged it on the table, "just like that sodding awful Norman Rockwell Four Effing Freedoms picture."

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on my Livejournal. Like many of my first fics, it's incomplete largely due to an inability to can. 
> 
> Part of my ongoing project to get my earlier fics up on AO3.


End file.
